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The 19-year-old Florida State freshman was born with schizencephaly, a rare physical condition similar to cerebral palsy that requires him to use a wheelchair.

He has limited speech and needs help eating and using the bathroom as well, yet none of that has stopped him from achieving his dream of becoming a part of FSU football’s undefeated run. Only one semester into school, the St. Cloud native has emerged as one of the Seminoles’ biggest fans and a part of the team.

Even before he was a student, the lifelong Seminole fan was bent on being a part of the team. He worked through advanced classes in high school in order to achieve the dream of roaming the Tallahassee campus one day. While still in high school, he went on a campus visit for his older sister and sneaked into a sports administration office. He handed over an application to be a football intern.

When he started at FSU earlier this year, he learned he didn’t get the internship.

He would find another way to be a part of the action.

In a class this fall, Payton made friends with wide receiver Kenny Shaw, who eventually invited him out to a practice. Payton has been a mainstay ever since.

Payton’s positive attitude and enthusiasm for the team has gained him notoriety in FSU fan circles. When it came time for the ’Noles to head to Pasadena for the national championship game, several stepped up to make sure Payton would be in Rose Bowl Stadium on Jan. 6.

Head Coach Jimbo Fisher has put up three tickets for Payton and his parents, Patrick and Retina Poulin, to attend the game.

It didn’t end there, when word of Payton’s story spread, so did support.

Michael Haggard, a Coral Gables attorney and the son of long-time FSU trustee Andy Haggard, stepped in to pay for the family’s travel and hotel expenses. He got the idea while making travel plans to the game for his own family.

“The person that deserves to go more than anyone in the world is Payton,” Haggard said, noting he loves how the team responds to him. “If anyone deserves it, it’s him.”

Matthew Wharton, a Seminole fan from Thomasville, came up with an idea to pay for the rest of the Poulins’ trip.

Payton’s “perseverance through this situation and his love for life” is what inspired him.

“It just really touched me,” he said. “I said ‘I need to make something happen.’”

On Dec. 17, Wharton started a campaign to pay for the rest of the family’s expenses while they’re out in California. Since then, the account has gleaned $1,400 from around 50 donors from across the United States.

Wharton is working on buying a VIP pass for Payton, so he can be on the field for what he hopes is a Seminole victory.

If nothing else, Wharton hopes the effort shows Payton that he has backers.

“I hope that it shows him that the world wants him to succeed,” he said. “I want him to know that Seminole nation backs him.”

“I think it’s very awesome that I’m an inspiration to people and that people come forward for me,” Payton said on Monday.

He’s currently back home in St. Cloud, but wishes he were at practice in Tallahassee.

“He’s dying to get back,” said Retina, who understands everything her son says and translates it for others. “It bothers him that he’s away from practice.”

The trip is more business than leisure for Payton.

“It’s not a vacation, it’s a championship I have to work hard for,” he said.

“I’m so excited to go to the championship to see my brothers win the national championship,” he said.

He’s predicted a 41-20 victory.

“It feels very overwhelming because it happened so quickly,” he said of the championship run in his freshman year. “I always believed it was going to happen but not that quickly.”

Now that he’s come this far, he has his eye on Coach Fisher’s head coaching job.